SILSDEN’s mayor has made a renewed call for school improvements before any more major housing schemes go ahead in the town.

Town mayor Chris Atkinson made the call as part of his end-of-year statement during the town council’s annual general meeting.

He spoke after plans were revealed for Silsden’s two schools, Aire View Infants and Hothfield Juniors, to be merged and potentially move to larger premises.

Cllr Atkinson told the meeting that Silsden was beginning to see some “movement towards the positive” with regard to school improvements.

He demanded that all the required infrastructure, which could include roads and community services as well as education, should be in place before any major housing developments were approved.

During the meeting Cllr Atkinson was re-elected mayor and Cllr Keith Savage was returned as deputy mayor.

Cllr Atkinson thanked councillors, police and public volunteers for their hard work during the previous 12 months.